Sanctuary Cities: Trump’s First Challenge

http://google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?tpl=safari&site=theblacksphere.net&hl=en-us King Henry VIII chose to ignore the limits of his power for the sake of convenience. Fast forward nearly 500 years later as we approach the end of the Obama presidency, we find the same attitude.

This opened the door for other politicians from all levels of government to pick and choose which laws that they would follow, and which they would choose to ignore.

Trump sees what Obama did as blatant disrespect for the rule of law, and he affirms his position in the 60 Minutes interview:

“What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate,” Trump said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl. “But we’re getting them out of our country, they’re here illegally.”

Trump also has promised to block federal funding for sanctuary cities.

The debate over immigration and sanctuary cities has been heating up across the country. Already many cities have declared that they will not comply with President-elect Trump’s plan to deport known illegal immigrants with violent criminal records:

California State-Senate President Pro-Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) promised to defend “the rights” of immigrants here illegally (without acknowledging the citizens born and/or living here legally). In a statement, De León said:

“It is erroneous and profoundly irresponsible to suggest that up to three million undocumented immigrants living in America are dangerous criminals. I also want to assure the millions of people who are here pursuing and contributing to the California Dream, but lack documentation, that the State of California stands squarely behind you.”

Los Angeles city officials have signaled their support for the city’s immigrant residents. Mayor Eric Garcetti said he would question Trump’s immigration position More than one million of the estimated 11 million immigrants in the country without legal status live in Los Angeles County, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

“We are not going to engage in law enforcement activities solely based on somebody’s immigration status. We are not going to work in conjunction with Homeland Security on deportation efforts. That is not our job, nor will I make it our job.”

“The solution was to put ICE agents inside our jail, so we don’t have inmates or suspects fall through the cracks, causing harm in our community.”

A partnership between the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency aims to crack down on criminals in the U.S. illegally.

The sheriff’s department estimates it books about 100 inmates a day. Now, with help from ICE agents, dozens of undocumented suspects have been deported to their countries of origin since the pilot program began. Two ICE agents are stationed at the jail, screening each inmate before they are let go. The process takes about an hour per person and includes a background check.

Fresno County is one of the only departments in the country with a program like this and ICE officials hope other departments will follow Sheriff Margret Mims’ lead.

“It’s no secret that these criminal illegal aliens and terrorists are looking for places to go where they are least likely to be caught,” says Bristol County (MA) Sheriff Thomas Hodgson. He says sanctuary cities are breaking federal law,

“What’s really troubling about this is that any elected official in this country would suggest that there should be a certain class of people who do not have to abide by our laws,” Hodgson says.

“It reflects a breakdown of the comity that’s supposed to exist among the three branches of government.” “The majority leader has no authority to say you can pick and choose among the laws you want to obey.”

But the law is not a salad bar from which you get to choose the selections you like. Once a law has been enacted, politicians are supposed to respect it.